There was a victory for the media on Thursday as Judge Roland Sutherland set aside South African Airways’ interdict against three media houses – Moneyweb, Business Day and Media24 – in the High Court in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n
This means that the publications can now publish the airline’s internal memorandum containing a warning about reckless trading.<\/p>\n
SAA asked the court for an urgent interdict to prohibit the media from publishing the memo.<\/p>\n
Judge Sutherland also gave a punitive cost order against SAA for “unprofessionalism” in the management of the urgent application.<\/p>\n
Eric van den Bergh, who represented various media houses, expressed relief at the judgment.<\/p>\n
“This is what we had wanted, having been surprised in the middle of the night and I think it’s the right decision although I haven’t read the judgment,” he told the media.<\/p>\n
Van den Bergh said the only way SAA could counter the decision would be by bringing a fresh application to the court.<\/p>\n
SAA had claimed legal privilege over the memo, which was prepared by Ursula Fikelepi – the head of legal, risk and compliance at SAA – for former acting CEO Thuli Mpshe to the SAA board. Fikelepi said the memo contained “privileged” and “highly confidential” information of a “very sensitive nature”.<\/p>\n
Several media groups, including City Press and Fin24, published information from a leaked memo last month. Journalists have been focusing on SAA\u2019s financial crisis, which has been exacerbated by the controversial Airbus deal.<\/p>\n
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